Know Your People

Whether you are an administrator, teacher, paraprofessional, or parent, at some point, you will be involved with being part of a committee, initiative, hiring panel, interviews, or something similar. In the area of music and performing arts, this is a specific and unique process. This colloquium will explore a systemic approach to create the best situations, reflect on what it means to be a team, and how to do best for students. 

Since February 2017, Latasha Casterlow-Lalla has served as the Supervisor of Visual & Performing Arts for the Passaic Public Schools in Passaic, New Jersey, where she has also held roles as an elementary music teacher, an elementary general teacher, Supervisor of Gifted & Talented, and founding Assistant Principal at the Passaic Gifted & Talented Academy. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music education and a master’s degree in counseling, human development, and guidance from Montclair State University and completed the Seton Hall University Executive Doctoral Educational Leadership Executive Program in May 2023. She is the President-Elect and Treasurer of the New Jersey Music Administrators Association. 

Michael Rodgers is the Director of Music and Performing Arts for the Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District on Long Island, New York. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Music Education at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, New York. Mike serves as the current New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education (NYSCAME) State President, as a member-at-large on the NAfME Music Program Leaders Council, and on the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Committee for Belonging, Equity, Representation, and Diversity. Outside of his career as a music educator, Mike also has performed solo and in several bands on Long Island and in New York. He’s a composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, and freelance clinician and programmer. 

NAfME presents this live virtual event at no charge to all as a service to the music education profession. To register, you must enter your NAfME member information or create a nonmember account. After registering, check your email for instructions. A recording of this program will be available to all registrants for one week following the live event. Members can also view archived NAfME webinars in the NAfME Academy. 

The views expressed are those of the presenter; they do not necessarily reflect the views of NAfME.